TALES TO ASTONISH #44: Good Things Come in Small Packages

Published: June, 1963

I’ve been waiting for this moment! The Wasp is one of my favorite Marvel characters, partly because she’s that rare female in a sea of testosterone, but also because she’s so much darn fun. She’s got a spunky sparkly personality that provides the much needed contrast to super-serious scientist Henry Pym.

In fact, to illustrate my point, just take a look at the cover. Where Ant-Man wears red, the Wasp is in black, and where Ant-Man wears black, the Wasp is in red. They are like yin and yang, chocolate and peanut butter. Sure, the ants have been efficient helpers and good buddies for crime-fighting Ant-Man, but ants are no substitute for human companionship. Especially when that human is a feisty female. So at this point, I must say…Woo hoo! Now we’re cooking with gas!

The story starts with a slightly different view of Pym than we’ve seen before. The despondent scientist languishes in his ultra-modern apartment, reminiscing about his lost love Maria, killed by Commies on their honeymoon. He wonders if he is doomed to a solitary life of crime fighting. He decides he wants a partner, he needs a partner, but who can he trust with his secret identity?

Enter fellow scientist, Vernon Van Dyne. No, this Van Dyne is not to be Robin to Ant-Man’s Batman. But he does have a beautiful young daughter Janet, whom Pym at first writes off as a “child,” and a “bored society playgirl,” though he is intrigued by her resemblance to his beloved Maria.

Yet, soon enough, Pym and Janet meet again, when her father is murdered by the creature from Kosmos, a gelatinous glob of green flesh, first cousin to Star Wars’ Jabba the Hut. Pym appears to Janet as Ant Man and gains her trust, while she declares that she will avenge her father’s death, even if it takes the rest of her life.

Just as quickly as Pym judged Janet a frivolous child, now he changes his opinion of the beautiful young socialite. She is “so like Maria,” he muses, not only in appearance, but also in spirit. When she confesses her desire to “help track down ALL the criminals, the human wolves who prey on honest people,” Pym instantly rips off his lab coat to reveal that HE is Ant-Man and asks if she will assist in his fight against crime as a miniaturized Wasp woman, complete with wings to fly and super-sensitive antennae to hear “the voices of the insect world.”

And what does young Janet have to say to all this? Without hesitation, she answers, “YES!”

From here it’s only a small jump to romance. At least for Janet. Well, what do you expect? Not only is Pym providing a platform from which she can avenge her father’s death, but he’s also given her the ability to fly, and dressed her in a groovy new outfit of unstable molecules that really accentuates her curves. And besides all this, Pym’s not a bad looking guy, as scientists go. He’s smart, and decent, and full of honor. What girl wouldn’t fall for him under these circumstances?

Pym however, proceeds more cautiously. He is, after all, a no-nonsense man of science, and also still grieves for the lovely Maria. “I never want to love again!” he declares to Janet as they fly into the face of danger. “I—I couldn’t bear it if I had to lose a loved one—twice!”

Besides that, he reminds her, she’s only a CHILD.

Well! Janet takes offense to that evaluation and gives it her all to prove she is not afraid, and is willing to do anything to see justice triumph. When she flies into danger, Ant-Man must rescue her. There’s some scolding as he drags her off under his arm, but I think secretly he was worried, afraid something might happen to his impulsive new partner.

With the help of his new friend the Wasp, and his old friends, the ants, Pym devises an antidote to the odious creature from Kosmos, and while in miniature form, he and his sidekick destroy the loathsome thing.

Danger past, the Wasp gives Ant-Man a congratulatory hug, but the little man admonishes her, “From now on you must not display such emotion! It—it isn’t proper!”

Good luck with that, Ant Man. You invited this woman into your life. Ever hear the saying, “You get what you pay for?” I mean, really! What were you expecting!?

Yes, in creating the Wasp, Ant-Man has opened the proverbial can of worms. But these are gummy worms, gooey sweet and delicious. And it’s only now that the Ant-Man title is really starting to get interesting.

All this, of course, begs the question: Why did Marvel feel it necessary to give Ant-Man a partner, and why a FEMALE partner? I’m not a big student of Marvel history, but from what I’ve read in the Fantastic Four series so far, it seems that in the early 1960’s there was a problem getting readers to accept and appreciate a female superhero. Poor Sue Storm! Reed always has to jump to her defense, wagging his finger at the readers and evoking the name of Abraham Lincoln’s mother. More than once, we’ve seen the others go out of their way to say, “Thank goodness Sue was here with her special powers! If not for her, we’d all be goners!”

So why the Wasp? And why now? Were Stan and company hellbent on creating a female super-heroine the readers could get excited about seeing on the cover? Did they judge a small flying woman to be intrinsically more interesting and acceptable than an invisible woman? After all, with an invisible woman, you can never be quite sure where she is or what she’s up to, but if a miniature woman gives you trouble, just drop her in your pocket.

Before she flies away, of course…

Was the Invisible Girl, as their first attempt, perhaps considered a less than perfect heroine, but from this experience, the creators thought they had learned enough to try again?

Perhaps they took their readers’ reluctance to cozy up to a female superhero as a challenge to their creativity. “By golly, we’ll MAKE them accept a girl hero if it’s the last thing we do!”

Maybe someone told Jack Kirby his artistic depictions of women characters left much to be desired, so he decided he needed more practice. Or maybe Stan sensed they were running out of stories for Ant-Man and needed something to spice up the title.

I don’t know. I can only speculate. If the Wasp had not been introduced at this time, how many more issues were left in the Ant-Man saga? Was our diminutive mad scientist destined to soon join the Hulk in superhero Limbo?

Russ has a book, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, and someday, when I’m a little further along in my reading, I may take a look at the earliest chapters to gain the answers to these and so many other questions I have about how all these serendipitous events came about in the Marvel Universe. But for right now, I’m going to stop asking questions and just be glad that the Wasp is here, poised to give proper and prim Pym no end of trouble and embarrassment as he continues to fight his growing feelings for his spirited sidekick.

Here in the Marvelous Zone, ants and wasps aren’t the only ones seeing action. Next time, our hero tangles with a new, multi-faceted villain in hand-to-hand-to-hand-to-hand-to-hand-to-hand-to-hand-to-hand combat.